


A Bouquet of Hydrangeas

by Emerian



Category: Fate/Apocrypha
Genre: Fluff, Humor, Multi, No Smut, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-03-11 18:37:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13530204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emerian/pseuds/Emerian
Summary: Snippets about the Fate/Apocrypha cast based on prompts. Some contains some pre-existing relationships from Fractal Scarring, but not necessary to read.Accepting prompts.





	1. Vlad/Karna

**Author's Note:**

> You can't ship them, they don't even have more than 2 scenes together.
> 
> yOu cANt SHIp tHEM THeY DOnT EveN HAvE x>2 scENES tOGETHeR
> 
> https://twitter.com/FateApocryphaTV/status/957221902380023808

“I want to eat now.” Mordred had a fork and a knife in each hand, doing some sort of ritualistic pre-lunch dance that had Achilles mimicking her in amusement. “I’m hungry.”

Empty plates with bread crumbs everywhere joined a stack after Karna intervened. He may find comfort in these siblings of his but he had hoped to keep the battlefield away from matters of nourishment.

They were back at it again in the next five seconds.

“You’re always hungry.” Achilles’s mouth twitched.

“You just said you’re hungry too—like ten minutes ago.” Her head snapped to the side with a loud crack.

“I changed my mind.”

Atalanta would later mourn for the restaurant’s loss of renowned steak. Everyone left soon after hearing a vague cacophony of sobbing. Chiron silently paid for any reparations like a good father, looking after this mismatched brood. Shishigou disciplined Achilles and Mordred. Astolfo laughed shamelessly while Jeanne blushed in Sieg’s arm—they were having a date night but stumbled upon the wreckage.

Karna observed Achilles and Mordred wrestle after Shishigou turned to Chiron, talking about some sort of competition. _They would need it, to rid themselves of that excess energy._

 _Atalanta’s choice to resolutely ignore them was a good plan,_ Karna thought. _At least, until it proved to be disastrous._

“Astolfo informed me that Vlad’s likes are competent vassals and he dislikes overly ambitious vassals. I think you can see why I want to bring up this topic.” Atalanta told him after they moved from the commotion to a shady corner. "So he's already intrigued. But should he treat this as an opportunity to solicit your loyalty as a warrior purely, you have my word that I shall unleash a tame version of Agrius Metamorphosis on him."

He blinked in surprise and pointedly ignored the last bit. Mordred's ardent desire to be a protective sibling was too much already. “But I am not exactly the perfect vassal. I have failed Duryodhana in life and gave away the armor that would have surely brought him victory in the Kurukshetra War.”

“You still served him admirably, with all your loyalty. That loyalty would make the knights of the round table’s devotion to their king be like a child and a new toy to be forgotten when the next one comes along.” She crossed her arms.

He sensed that she was not in the mood to have him disagree or circumvent this conversation. So with reluctance, he continued to dig his grave.

“You are surprisingly worried about my romantic options. And that is if I were to accept his courtship. Please do not forget that I had Vrushali.” Karna frowned. Confusion remained at the base of his tongue, preventing him from explaining further. He truly had not a single idea about why Vlad would even court him—surely he and Chiron were closer?

The prospect of a partner, whether it be sexual or romantic, did not bother him in the slightest but he could not for the second life of him figure out if it was actually true that Vlad fancied him. Certainly, during the fight—and only—Vlad admired his ability to evade stakes like they were nothing. Karna had nothing but respect for the lord of this land’s willpower to defend his country, even when he thought there was nothing to protect.

Atalanta sighed a long-suffering sigh that came from dealing with thick-headed skulls. “And has that stopped Achilles from making advances on me and everyone else? Patroclus had been his one and only _erastes,_ but he never forgot who once held his heart in his hands. Karna, you do not have to carry your heart alone.”

Karna opened and closed his mouth. ...it was true in a sense. Vrushali remained his greatest love but he married other women upon his father’s request. He cared for them, but as friends in the end. There remained a polygamy element in the Mahabharata, and while he didn’t like it, nor did he dislike it. He just regarded it as another fact of life.

“—Wait what?” Mordred said, puzzled. She and Achilles had sauntered over to them before Karna decided to imitate a dying fish. Both sported bloody lips and bruised knuckles. Karna predicted a stern talking later. “Someone wants to date Karna?” Her jade eyes narrowed as if she was going to go [Mana Burst]ing off into the horizon to investigate, and summarily murder who dared to even consider it.

“Is that such a terrible offer for you to consider murder?” He asked. “It yet remains to be seen if Vlad speaks the truth about this matter.”

“Don’t kill him.” Atalanta didn’t take her eyes off Karna. “Though I am not exactly in a conventional relationship with Achilles, that does not mean I don’t know anything about this.” her voice became gentle. “I’d hazard a guess that you and Vlad would at least be comfortable in each other’s presence.”

Meanwhile, Mordred made an impossibly low noise that reminded everyone there of her distant draconic blood from her father.

“There’s nothing wrong about a little rough-housing, sis.” Achilles smirked while holding up a hand.

“That goes for you too.”

 _“You look like a male prostitute when fighting,”_ Mordred said. _“None of this helps any of his cases.”_

Achilles spit thick blobs in choked laughter all over Mordred’s face and they started pummeling each other on the cobblestone. 

"...do you believe I should try it out?" 

Atalanta shrugged. "It's a suggestion. But I think you won't mind. And it won't be as if you'll part on bad terms should you decide it's not acceptable." She muttered the next part, "and it's not like Sieg is available."

Karna looked sharply at her. "I do not desire to be a cuckolder in any way whatsoever."

"And you don't. Just a casual remark." Atalanta waved it off. "I may not seek out these relationships, but I know for a fact that it's different for those who were raised in the company of such people. You may want to have a relationship that doesn't revolve around _herding these idiots_ or acting as an adviser." 

"...I'll touch upon this possibility at a later time." Karna sighed. 


	2. Mordred & Karna

How the hell did she, of all of the Servants in Romania, appear to be the most normal-looking? Come on, combinations of blonde hair and green eyes were rare too.

Whoever thought Mordred could be stealthy was a giant fucking moron. As Kairi had so eloquently put it, “an Assassin that charges straight through with a sword and armor,” she was not. And that giant fucking moron was Vlad. Mordred was never doing a favor for him ever again. Not without a great deal of bribing.

_I’m taking him to a Dracula movie if this gets worse._

It had been like three minutes since she crept down the hallway, holding this unnecessary gun in a hand before the rogue homunculi sighted her. She ended up yelling “fuck it” and flung the gun at one of their heads—controlling her Strength at the last second so their heads didn’t explode—after emptying the clip.

What the one cool thing about this situation was the awesome police uniform he asked her to don.

(“I’m keeping this for Halloween when it rolls around,” Mordred informed him.

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t press and went on briefing her.)

It was just—really, really...comfortable to move in after she refused the additional components. And the helmet, can’t forget it. With it covering her youngish face, she appeared to be an seasoned officer unfortunately not blessed with any growth spurts.

Which was why Mordred dashed to the nearest fool and could use his face as a springboard into another. She broke arms and legs but never their faces, needed them to talk afterward to whoever wanted to take care of this aftermath.

Clean-up took less than minute after the rest of the human officers converged into the building.

Vlad waited by the alley in a nice three-piece suit as she managed to move discreetly over to him. Being able to somewhat beat up people mitigated part of her annoyance so she spoke with a small amount of vitriol.

“Shouldn’t a king deal with the rebels himself?” She asked him, stretching arms behind her head. “You know, consider that and your reach is thought to be weakened in the populace’s opinion.”

Vlad gave a wry smile as he tucked the helmet under an arm. “These rebels were more related to your domain. But you would rather secure Karna’s person than any other person...Atalanta exempted,” he added after a thoughtful pause.

“Oh. Well, there’s that, too,” she agreed.

It took five, maybe fifteen minutes for them to pick out Karna striding to them, looking somewhat ruffled with his apron not exactly pristine anymore. She approved of the suspicious bloodstains. 

“You have my thanks.” he greeted Vlad with a nod. “I’d like my co-workers to assume we are still within the limits of humanity.”

“It is no issue to me. Take it from a fellow monarch to a fellow monarch.”

“King of Anga, right?” Mordred piped up, suddenly feeling like she had been removed from their awareness of the people around them.

Karna nodded.  
  
But the two Lancers dithered over the subject of hashing out details for a bouquet Vlad requested, and Karna was completely engrossed. Typical Hero of Charity-stuff. Mordred shifted her stare between the two until Vlad took his leave.

“Are you going to ask if I’m alright with these rebellious homunculi?” Mordred tilted her head like a cat once Karna's attention settled onto her.

“No, I know you to have made peace with it, when Semiramis informed you of Yggdmillennia's ways.” Karna sounded like he was a million miles away.

Had he been thinking of something else?

"Were you jealous?" He said eventually.  
  
Mordred blanched. "Uh—no.  _Definitely not._ " 

Karna raised an eyebrow. 

They stared until she gave up and groaned in concession. 

"Yes. But just a little," she said, unwilling to admit it. 

Just because he was great at resolving inner conflicts after sitting down with Servants from this Grail Ward didn't mean it was fun. Best therapist Karna, everyone. 

He put a hand under his chin as he said, "It has been only a week or two since the Great Holy Grail War settled, and the time we spent together had been fleeting once Amakusa Shirou revealed his identity. I suppose it  _had_ been little opportunities for you and I to have some personal time." 

"Fran told me about this aquarium in Constanta...and it's near the ocean." she grinned. "Why don't we go sometime this month?"

Karna gave her a small smile. "I would be honored to accompany this knight." Then his smile fell into a frown. "Though, I believe going to the opposite side of Romania would have Achilles and Astolfo invite themselves—"

"—and the rest would follow," she finished for him. "Well, it doesn't really matter. As long as we get to go to the aquarium by ourselves."

"I suspect the beach would entice them more so." 

Caught up in the sudden excitement, she discussed possibly taking him to England and showing him around. It didn't matter if the land and people had changed, but it was still familiar grounds.

And then her hands ruined the moment, by flinching and curling inward.

Incarnated Servants were more human than Heroic Spirits from the Throne. 

"Ow," she couldn't help but mutter. 

Karna examined it after taking her hands in his gently. "Has it been doing it more lately?" 

"At least once every one or two days." Mordred eased her hands out of his grip. She still didn't like other people touching her, especially her most vulnerable areas. "God, it's so annoying, like a personal swarm of flies." 

Evidently, Karna like the detector he was, sensed the bitterness. 

“What are you—I don’t need to see that,” Mordred turned away in embarrassment when Karna started to undo his shirt’s collar. “No thanks.”

A sigh followed and she palmed her cheek, letting the hand slide down as she waited for him to explain. Her cheeks continued to flare a bright red and sear down to her bones.

“You are technically a child, seeing as we are summoned at our peak perfection. And I would never be interested in you like that—I should like to think that gaining your friendship would be harder than a purely physical relationship.”

That last bit amped up her burning face and she refused to face him until it went away. Karna was a pretty guy and all but it sucked whenever he did _these things_. Is this how Bedivere was viewed to the rest of the Round Table?

“That doesn’t mean I still want to see it,” Mordred griped and Karna’s hand on her shoulder gently moved her to face him again.

She stared at his exposed neck.

“Arjuna, one of my brothers,” Karna told her. “You may know him as the archer who shot down the sun.”

The scar wrapped around his neck like a scarf with jagged lining. He had been beheaded by arrows, Mordred understood suddenly.

Karna winced slightly as he forced it to recede into pale skin, buttoning it back up. “But scars are not necessarily a terrible mark.”

“You mean...like from training?” She started warily.

He shrugged. “I find a certain kind of beauty in those lightning flowers that grace your hands. Of course, I don’t in how your birth mother forced it upon you. I wish you could’ve been able to view them as hallmarks of your persistence.”

Mordred smiled slightly.

“You and me both.” Sometimes it was a little irritating that she would never get used to positive opinions, but wasn’t it just proof of her new life?

They walked back to the house in comfortable silence but she slung an arm over his shoulders just so he could correctly assume her gratitude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NGL, I just wanted to write Mordred as a police officer, like in those modern AUs. 
> 
> Future beach episode? Future beach episode. 
> 
> Mordred/Karna sounds great but damn, she's still underage in the end. I would be down to write a fic where she is definitely of age and when I find a good prompt.


	3. Prompt: rust

She inhaled.

Karna slumped, fell, and lay there.

His golden spear failed to protect him and his trusted sword couldn’t either.

There was red, red blood streaming through his fingers, into the grouts between broken marble, staining white with red. Devouring everything to draw proof of life, that something, someone, was living. Or was that his skin? She didn’t know, didn’t know anything, didn’t know why she wasn’t moving, didn’t understand…

Her body shook and her jaw trembled as she forced it open:  nothing was said and nothing would be said. Even her breathing was stilted all the while she tried to step closer.

Mordred had always thought that if he were to die, he would go out in a fiery end, snuffed as easily as he had barged into her life— _the idiot_. Like a sun taking its last, desperate gasp before being swallowed by the eclipse. But he was human, and so, he would die like one. The fan of his eyelashes, the unkempt hair, his skin; all of it was cold silver— _almost a relief and she was close to bursting_ —then she remembered silver yields to rust.

There was a lot of blood. Mordred imagined that there was enough to douse herself completely, perhaps; flood the world twice over because that is her world, her family, her brother.

Karna was a descending sun, bleeding red into the darkness of this castle. Relentless sunlight flooded everywhere and eventually, it too, reached her feet.

She closed her eyes.

Her hands were covered in rust.

Mordred remembered how his eye had turned red that one time, back in the church, back when she didn’t have anyone, back when he was just an enemy, just a stepping stone.

She opened her eyes.

She exhaled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warm-up I did a few weeks ago, so I might as well just treat this story as the place to put snippets I’m doing. 
> 
> Also, Desolas, working on the Karna/Atalanta thing! Hopefully I’ll finish it within the first few weeks of June.


End file.
